Holiday entitlement in the UK

By the KiteClock team · Reviewed 24 October 2026 · How we write guides

Almost every UK worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year. For someone who works 5 days a week that's 28 days, which is the most the law requires; someone who works fewer days gets 5.6 times the days or hours they work in a week.

Full-time workers

Someone working a 5-day week must get at least 28 days' paid holiday a year. That's the cap: statutory paid holiday is limited to 28 days, so someone working 6 days a week is still entitled to 28.

Part-time workers

Part-time workers with regular hours get at least 5.6 weeks too, worked out from the days or hours they work. For example, someone working 3 days a week is entitled to at least 16.8 days (3 × 5.6).

Days worked each week	Statutory holiday (days a year)
1	5.6
2	11.2
3	16.8
4	22.4
5	28
6	28 (capped)

The same applies in hours: 5.6 times the hours worked in a week, no more than 28 of their working days.

Bank holidays

Bank and public holidays don't have to be given as paid leave on top. An employer can count them as part of the 5.6 weeks, or give them as extra days; the contract says which.

Irregular hours and part-year workers

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, people whose hours are mostly variable, and people who only work part of the year, build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period. Seeholiday for irregular hours.

Starting or leaving part way through the year

A worker with regular hours who starts part way through the leave year can build up a twelfth of the year's leave each month. GOV.UK's example: someone entitled to 28 days who starts on 13 January gets 2.5 days for January (28 ÷ 12 = 2.33, rounded up to the nearest half day). After three months they're entitled to 7 days.

Sickness and family leave

Holiday keeps building up while someone is off sick, and during maternity, paternity and adoption leave. Workers can ask to take holiday while they're on sick leave.

If someone can't take their holiday because they're off sick, regular-hours workers can carry up to 20 days forward, to be taken within 18 months of the end of the leave year it built up in. Otherwise, up to 8 days can normally be carried over if the employer agrees.

How KiteClock handles it

KiteClock's standard leave policy gives 28 days for 5 days a week and works out part-time entitlement pro rata, rounding up to the next half day for starters and part-year workers. Irregular-hours staff build up 12.07% of their hours as each timesheet is approved. Carry-over caps, bank holidays and leave years are set per policy.

Sources

This guide explains the rules; it isn't legal advice. For a decision about a particular person, check with Acas or a qualified adviser.